Don't let me kill this kid - part deux

I took my time getting home. I really wasn't looking forward to this.

He was sitting in his car waiting when I got there. When I walked up and looked at the job, it was fairly obvious what he had done. It looked as if he showed up in time to roll everything again, but he obviously had done next to no cutting-out with a brush (never mind that the brush was dirty). There was still paint showing through in places. I asked him if he thought he was done, pointing out places that weren't covered, and he said "Yes. No one is going to walk up and look at it the way you are." It was pretty much on then. Ugly things were said on both sides. He told me he didn't care, and to finish it myself if I wanted it done that way. I told him it was pretty obvious he didn't care from the job that he had done. I ended up telling him I wouldn't pay him what I promised him because he did a half-ass job. I paid him the reduced amount, and told him he better get back in school, since he obviously wasn't going to make a working man. He then took the check, cranked up the rap music, and peeled out down the street. He has a big, new, gorgeous Mustang that he obviously didn't pay for, and which would have eaten him alive in gas this summer.

Of course I felt like shit. Honestly, I felt like the crochety old man yelling at the "young whippersnapper". But if I had paid him full price for that crappy job I would have felt that I had been taken advantage of. So really it was a no-win kind of thing. The boy has problems, and I know that. I really did want to help him out. But I'm not going to reinforce that he can half-ass his way through life, and I'm sure not paying to reinforce that. He obviously has no idea the way the world works, and doesn't appear to have ever worked for money. He'll learn. He has taken a job at a restaurant. Working in food is a brutal education. People can think of an amazing number of things to dock you for if they are paying you themselves - voluntarily. I'm afraid David has some tough lessons to learn.

But he's hot. And he's a straight white male, so the world is pretty much geared to his whim. He should be fine.

I cleaned all the brushes and rags properly, and put them away for this weekend. Looks like I'm going to be painting on Saturday, which I was trying to avoid. I wonder if my house is going to end up egged, or worse, now. True that would be stupid, but this kid is really not a paragon of maturity and judgment.

I ate some toasted cheese and tomato soup, watched the Daily Show, and went to bed.